Puppy with heart condition saved by team of Ringwood vets

Bishy Barnabee, a four-month-old Jack Russell cross, was first referred to Southern Counties Veterinary Specialists after issues with her heart were flagged during a routine checkup.

When the team of vets met her, they found her to be “almost beyond death’s door”.

The puppy had to be given specialist medicine to stabilise her before surgery was even an option.

Clinical director and head of cardiology, Tobi Wagner, said: “The dog was in heart failure and was referred to us with what’s called a PDA.

Bishy Barnabee before her surgery (Image: Hakanoa)

“Usually, we see these patients early enough when they are still quite stable.

“But it was so advanced she had severe exercise intolerance and we put her on a very high dose of a medicine to reduce the pulmonary pressures which had also developed and hopefully give us the option of trying to close the PDA vessel.”

When the operation did go ahead, Bishy Barnabee then suffered cardiovascular arrest and had to be resuscitated.

While she came out alive, she remained ill for weeks – forcing her owner Claire Whickman to consider her options.

Claire said: “She wasn’t doing any exercise and she was so out of it she’d barely raise her head if you walked into a room.

Bishy Barnabee after her surgery (Image: Hakanoa)

“We knew we had to give her an option, because even if there was a risk from the surgeries then she had no chance at all without them.”

It was then decided that a second operation would be attempted, and with Bishy Barnabee being slightly larger, the vet team were able to try a slightly different technique.

Fortunately, the operation was a success and has resulted in a ‘complete transformation’ for the puppy.

She added: “She’s a normal happy puppy now and if you didn’t know what had happened, you’d never realise there had been anything wrong. She’s infinitely better.”

“It has been gradual, but she has got better and better. Now we can go for full long walks, exploring with our other dog.

“It’s like a magic wand has been waved over her.”